Born about in Colony of Virginia
Ancestors 
Daughter of Joseph Croshaw
and [mother unknown]
Sister of
Mary Rose (Croshaw) White, Rachel (Croshaw) Barnes, Benjamin Croshaw, Unity (Croshaw) West and Joseph Croshaw Jr
Wife of
Robert Blackwell
— married
about 1645 (to before 1664) in Bruton Parish, York, Virginia
Descendants 
Mother of
James Blackwell and Robert Blackwell Jr.
Died before
before about age 33
in New Kent, New Kent, Colony of Virginia
Profile managers:
Wanda Richards 
[send private message], Richard J [send private message], and Jonathan Reed [send private message]
[send private message], Richard J [send private message], and Jonathan Reed [send private message]Profile last modified
| Created 2 Jan 2011
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Contents |
Biography
This profile represents the unnamed daughter of Joseph Croshaw who married Robert Blackwell, by whom she had James and Robert Blackwell.
She was born about 1630 in York County, Virginia.[1] See Research Notes for why she was not his daughter Unity or Ursula.
She married Robert Blackwell about 1645-1646 in Virginia, son of Robert Blackwell.
Robert Blackwell (and apparently his wife?) died before November of 1664 when her father Joseph Croshaw made a deed of gift to his grandsons Robert Blackwell and James Blackwell, sons of Robert, deceased.[2]
Children of Unknown Croshaw and Robert Blackwell were:
- Robert Blackwell Jr 1645 York VA – 1718 York VA, 1st married Ann Unknown (1642 VA - 1676 VA) in 1665, 2nd Mary Manning (1660 after 1718 VA) in 1676
- James Blackwell, b. 1647, St. Peter's Parish, York, New Kent, Virginia, d. September 19, 1717, Lunenburg, Virginia, married Lydia Turner (1650 VA)
If there were additional children, their names are lost to history.
Research Notes
One daughter or two?
A previous version of this profile combined two daughters of Joseph Croshaw into one woman, claiming that the wife of John West was the widow of Robert Blackwell.
That they were in fact two different daughters of Joseph Croshaw is suggested by the following:
- Unity got her portion of her father’s estate (deeded to John West, her husband) before 19 Nov 1664 when Joseph Croshaw made a deed of gift of 700 acres to his grandsons Robert Blackwell and James Blackwell, sons of Robert, deceased.
- While the grandsons' father (Robert Blackwell) was dead at the time Joseph gifted them land, their mother might have been alive. The grandsons didn’t get their own patent until 1668 which suggests they were under sixteen when the original gift was given. (Robert and James received a patent for the same land on 10 Dec 1668. The patent just says they got the land by deed of gift, no clarification of any relationships.[citation needed] )
In "Adventurers of Purse and Person" Vol. 1, John Dorman says the will of Maj. Joseph Crowshaw, 10 April 1667 mentioned wife Mary, infant son Joseph, and sons-in-law John West and Ralph Graves.
Emily Calloway Stillman's research is heavily documented and she identifies the Croshaw daughter that married Robert Blackwell as a daughter by his first wife but does not name her.[3]
The following is from "The Blackwells of Blackwell's Neck" by June Banks Evans:
- "The marriage of a Croshaw daughter to Robert Blackwell has been questioned. However, the Blackwell land was located next to some of the New Kent County land of John West, who owned the large tract in the fork between the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers at the head of the York River - the West Plantation. (PB3:93, 291). West's son John, who was eighteen years old when his father died in 1659, later married Unity Croshaw, daughter of Major Croshaw of York County (Harris, Old New Kent County: 567). It is not unreasonable to suggest that John West married the widow of Robert Blackwell (who died before November 1664) and became guardian for her young children, which would account for the deed of gift to Croshaw's Blackwell grandsons. After the death of Croshaw, his daughter Unity and her husband John West eventually held title to all of his estate lands."
Emily Calloway Stillman makes a valid observation that Unity would have been listed as Unity Blackwell at the time that she married John West had she previously been married to Robert Blackwell. (But there is no marriage record yet found for John West.)
Sources
- ↑ Dawn Barnard Eskins, dawneskins-at-earthlink.net, GEDCOM: Pilgrims and Bootleggers, "Electronic." BETTER SOURCE SOUGHT.
- ↑ Dorman, John F. Adventurers of Purse and Person. Fourth Edition. Genealogical Publishing Co.Inc., Baltimore, Md. 2007. Vol. I, part 2, pp. 770-772
- ↑ Emily Calloway Stillman, "Blackwell - Mondt Ancestry." Information on Ursula Blackwell
See also:
- Second Supply, Jamestown Rediscovery.
- Carl Pentecost (pentecostfamilyweb @ yahoo.com), FOX, Henry - Descendants by Carl Pentecost: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/e/n/Carl-R-Pentecost-MO/index.html
- Godfrey Memorial Library, comp., American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI). Middletown, CT, USA: Godfrey Memorial Library.
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- Changes to wife of John West Jul 22, 2020.
- Anyone else interested in straightening out Unity/Ursula Croshaw? May 28, 2020.
Comments: 24
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I don't know where this information came from but Major Joseph Croshaw was married five times. His first wife according to Wikipedia said his first wife was unknown but other sources state it was Elizabeth Yeardley and Wikipedia lists these as their children. Joseph lived only eight years.
Mary Croshaw (1632-1687), married 1. Henry White; 2. Thomas Taylor. Richard Croshaw (1633- ) Rachel Croshaw (1635-1670), married 1. Ralph Graves (grandson of Captain Thomas Graves); and 2. Richard Barnes. Betty Croshaw (1636-1637) Unity Croshaw (1636-1669), married Colonel John West. Benjamin Croshaw (1640-1645), died young. Joseph Croshaw (1642-1650), died young. another link: http://www.familycentral.net/index/family.cfm?ref1=4951:3017&ref2=4951:3018
Only two sons are named in records, Robert and James.
I've proposed a merge between Joseph and James since there is no evidence that there was a son Joseph at all.
Profile Managers: Is there any rationale for this profile being an unmerged match with Pamunkey-3? It was added today. I don't see any likelihood of them being the same person, but I am not familiar with either profile.
None. Thanks for catching that. I was otherwise occupied in her narrative. I have rejected the match. That she was the same as Cockockoske of the Pamunckey tribe is a farce introduced to the world by Don Greene's supposed Shawnee Heritage series.
Anne, Nathaniel, Thomas, and John have been detached from Ursula and moved to Unity. Three extraneous children, "Ursula Unity Susannah West Martin," Scarborough West, and Mathilda West (descendants of Anthony West, also a Jamestown settler) have also been detached from both Ursula Croshaw Blackwell and John West.
Unless someone objects and provides better documentationI will create a new profike next week for Unity Croshaw and separate her from her unnamed, possibly Ursula, sister, leaving “Usula” with Mr. Blackwell and their children. .
A couple of things. Three:
1. Thanks for your work last year trying to clean up this messy family.
2. the narrative still conflates her with Unity Croshaw West. I'm going to clan that up.
3. Is there any evidence for the given name Ursula? Shall we change her to Unknown Croshaw?
PS could one of the profile managers please delete the "memory"? Thanks.
Mmm. In cleaning up the narrative, I see the research notes where the primary argument against Unity Croshaw West being the widow of Robert Blackwell is that she would have been called Unity Blackwell at her marriage to John West. BUT THERE IS NO MARRIAGE RECORD FOR JOHN WEST TO UNITY. Or if there is, it is not cited on either profile.
Absent such a marriage record, I think there is still a case that after Robert's death, his widow married John West. Am I missing something that would suggest otherwise?
Dorman thinks there are two women and he’s the expert. I think that’s based on the land transfers. Unity got her portion of her father’s estate (deeded to John West, her husband) before the other land was deeded to the grandsons. Their father was dead, but their mother might have been alive. They didn’t get their own patent until 1668 which suggests they were under sixteen when the gift was given. The patent just says they got the land by deed of gift, no clarification of any relationships.
Walter Cleveland Jones
his father ? Martha Ann Jones his mother ? Thomas William Weldon her father ? Sarah 'Sallie' Weldon his mother ? James G Mims, Sr her father ? Richard Mims, I his father ? Thomas Mims his father ? Benjamin Mims his father ? Amelia Anne Mims his mother ? Unity Martin her mother
I think two daughters are combined here; one daughter married to Blackwell and Unity married to John West. Josephs gift of land to the Blackwell sons doesnt seem to make sense if Unity was their mother.
In "Adventurers of Purse and Person" Vol. 1, ,John Dornan says the will of Maj. Joseph Crowshaw, 10 April 1667 mentioned wife Mary, infant son Joseph, and sons-in-law John West and Ralph Graves. The name of his first wife is unknown; she is listed as the mother of six: a daughter whose name is unknown, Mary, Unity, Rachel, Benjamin (died without issue), and Joseph (died without issue). The first daughter married Robert Blackwell who died before 19 Nov 1664 when Joseph Croshaw made a deed of gift of 700 acres to his grandsons Robert Blackwell and James Blackwell, sons of Robert, deceased. Robert and James received a patent for the land 10 Dec 1668.
Ursula would have been 9 years old if she married Robert in 1645. I corrected the date to 1654. Ursula married John West II in 1667
U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900. Source number: 707.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: DPS.
Proposed merge with Croshaw-3. Croshaw is the proper LNAB, same spouse and birth date
Crowshaw-18 and Croshaw-3 appear to represent the same person because: Croshaw is proper LNAB, use death date on Croshaw-3 Spouses and birthdate match
Crowshaw-9 and Croshaw-3 appear to represent the same person because: same/similar dates, same marriage
Robin, could I please request your Leader powers to PPP this profile. Much controversy. Thanks.
It could go under either Native Americans or US southern Colonies.
Crenshaw-76 and Croshaw-3 appear to represent the same person because: These are the same people; however, I will post further notes and sources on birth dates. Unity/Ursula was first married to Robert Blackwell and then John West
I was looking at Ursula Unity Croshaw's profile and I wondered why her 1st marriage and children are not listed. I'm unfamiliar w/WikiTree and new to genealogy research and some of the verbage. Unity Croshaw is my 8th great grandmother. She married Robert Blackwell (1619-1664) in abt. 1645 and had 2 sons, Robert Blackwell (1646) and James Blackwell (1647). In Joseph Croshaw's will he left land to his "grandchildren, Robert and James Blackwell, when they became of age" and John West was his executor. He also gave land to his daughter, Rachel and her husb. it states, "Joseph Chroshaw, Gent., out of natural affection, gives to Ralph Graves & Rachel, his wife, 1000 acres of land in New Kent, easterly on Capt. West Esqr's land. S. on Coll. William Claiborne's &c. Dated 23 Dec. 1654; ack.:24 Apr. 1656." Source Info. Ancestry.com Virginia Will Records. Original data: Virginia Will Records. I am a direct descendent of Robert Blackwell (1646-1718) and Blackwell surname until 1920's.
I have taken a DNA test (I'm 95% GreatBrit & 5% Trace Region- Ireland & Europe West) and can upload in order to disprove rumor's that Joseph Croshaw's wife and mother of his children was Rachel (Pocahanta's cousin). I read "story" that Unity was caring for a Rachel and it was more than likely her sister, Rachel Graves (1629-1656). I would like the to see the record corrected and the inclusion of Unity's children by Robert Blackwell. John West went to court many times to fight for his stepsons to retain the land and for it to not go to Joseph's last wife and her son. Thank you The sender, Merry Crawford [email address removed] , was not logged-in to WikiTree.
Powhatan-34 and Croshaw-3 do not represent the same person because: Ursula was his first wife, cockacoeske was the indian he left her for.
Rejected matches › Cockocoske Pamunkey (abt.1634-bef.1686) › Cockocoske Pamunkey (abt.1634-bef.1686)
Featured National Park champion connections: Unknown is 14 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 21 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 15 degrees from George Catlin, 14 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 20 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 16 degrees from George Grinnell, 24 degrees from Anton Kröller, 16 degrees from Stephen Mather, 22 degrees from Kara McKean, 14 degrees from John Muir, 15 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 23 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
one of the main figures of the early Jamestown Settlement. She was the grandchild of Raleigh Croshaw, one of the founders of Jamestown. She was the daughter-in-law of Colonial Virginia Governor John West of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia (now part of the United States). But she is perhaps most notable as the reportedly shrewish wife of Colonel John West, son of Governor John West, who divorced him for adultery when he left her to live with Cockacoeske who was the queen of the Pamunkey Indians and a cousin of Pocahontas.
Biography
Unity Croshaw was born at Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, James City, Virginia. She was christened in 1636 at West Point, King William County, Virginia, and she married Colonel John West there in 1654. The couple had the following children:
Captain Nathaniel West (b. 1655-1724), he was mentioned in records as a Captain in 1662, a Major in 1667, Lt. Colonel in 1673. He commanded the militia of the county. Nathaniel married his second cousin Martha Woodard. Their son-in-law, William Danridge, was Martha Washington's uncle. Unity (Susannah) West (b. 1657), married George Martin. Anne West (b.1660-1708), married Henry Fox. John West III (b. 1666), married Judith Armistead. Captain Thomas West (b. 1670-1714), married Agnes (?).
Unity died on April 20, 1669 in New Kent County Virginia.